Valero CEO Gorder Sees Acquisition Opportunities

Valero Energy Corp Chief Executive Officer Joe Gorder said on Wednesday the leading U.S. refiner may return to its roots as a buyer of refineries in the near future.

"We think there are acquisition opportunities going forward," Gorder said during a webcast of the Barclay's Energy Conference.

Gorder reminded the audience that Valero expanded between 2000 and 2007 by aggressively buying U.S. refineries.

Speaking to Wall Street analysts, Gorder declined to detail the areas where the San Antonio-based company was seeking opportunities.

"This is an ongoing process," he said. "This is something you're doing all the time. We have a list of targets we're looking at internally."

Some targets could be corporate acquisitions, Gorder added, and some "one-off" opportunities.

"Valero's going to try and grow the company," he said.

Growth could also come through improving existing operations.

"In the midstream, we'll probably see a higher growth rate than in refineries," Gorder said about the expanding logistics sector where Valero, like its competitors, operates a master limited partnership focused on crude oil and refined products pipelines and terminals.

Reporting by Erwin Seba